The video of my TEDx talk for TEDxLafayette 2014, “City Full of Unmanned Vehicles” is available on Youtube. Previously, I posted the text of the talk.

In this talk, I lay out my vision for the use of unmanned and autonomous vehicles and their uses within city limits. There are many potential benefits in terms of public safety, disaster response, personal transportation, delivery and logistics. However, a balance is needed between safety and the ability of system developers to experiment and advance the technology in the environments in which these systems will be used. I explore many of these ideas in this TEDx Talk.

What do you think? In light of the proposed FAA regulations regarding unmanned aerial systems (released after my talk), did I present the issue with the right balance? Are unmanned and autonomous systems just too experimental at this point to be used in our cities?

I look forward to your comments.